Gibbons Named Senior CLASS Award Candidate

Senior forward Kyle Gibbons of the Canisius College hockey team has been named one of 20 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in the community.

On the ice, Gibbons has enjoyed a very successful career at Canisius, highlighted by leading the Griffs to the Atlantic Hockey title last season. An all-conference selection as a junior, Gibbons was named the 2013 Atlantic Hockey Championship MVP after setting tournament records with 12 points and eight assists en route to Canisius’ first conference championship. Overall, Gibbons finished the season ranked 12th nationally in points (43), eighth in goals (21) and sixth in power-play tallies (nine).

During his three-plus seasons at Canisius, Gibbons has totaled 97 points, 45 goals and 52 assists. He is just three points shy of becoming the eighth player in the program’s Division I history to record 100 career points and also ranks fifth in the school’s record book with his 45 career tallies.

Off the ice, Gibbons owns a 3.447 grade point average as a finance major and has earned Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team accolades in each of his three seasons at Canisius. Gibbons is also active within the Buffalo community, volunteering with Hasek’s Heroes, the Food Bank of Western New York and Canisius Community Days.

The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men’s Frozen Final Four in April.

Gibbons and the Griffs are back in action on Friday, playing at Robert Morris. Canisius then returns to Buffalo for its home opener against Mercyhurst on Saturday night. Game time at the Buffalo State Sports Arena is set for 7:05 p.m.